


Writer's Folly (Sanders Sides)

by Randomhowlter



Series: Sanders Sides Microfics [10]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Background Moxiety - Freeform, Writers, artist, logince here can be platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 12:39:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13213938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Randomhowlter/pseuds/Randomhowlter
Summary: Roman teaches Logan that there's more than one kind of "real" writing.





	Writer's Folly (Sanders Sides)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theginger607](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theginger607/gifts).



> We get so much of adventurous, boisterous, confident Prince Roman, I think we sometimes forget the artistic side of him. He is Creativity, after all :)  
> Logince has officially made its way higher up on my list of ships (thanks Oli) but most of those fics I read have to do with Logan helping Roman with self-confidence issues, or sometimes Roman helping Logan learn romance, I thought of this at some point today while listening to Hamilton (yes there's a connection that my ADD mind made it's a long jump)  
> Hope you enjoy! :)  
> -Reyna

Roman looked up as the door opened. He hadn’t been expecting anyone to show up for his painting class today. It was Tuesday, one of his slower days. As often as he had full houses on the weekends, he tended to have empty ones during the week.

Still, despite his hopes for some extra free time being dashed, he was always excited to teach a class. Especially when one of his favorite students walked in.

“Patton! It’s been quite a while since you’ve visited me, my friend!” Patton beamed at him, hugging Roman enthusiastically before Roman noticed the man who had stepped in with him. “Ah, hello! Are you the infamous boyfriend?”

The slender, bespectacled man chuckled, as Patton flushed. “No, I’m just a friend. Virgil is out of town, so I have been the one dragged into this instead.”

“Ah, I see. Not much of an artist…?”

“Logan. And no, not really. I find it to be a waste of time, I hope you’ll forgive me for saying.” The man stretched his hand forward, and Roman shook it, admiring the subtle strength conveyed in that simple handshake.

“Well, lovely to meet you, Logan. I hope I can change your mind.”

Logan sniffed. “Doubtful.” He looked around the studio. “I will admit this is a lovely space, however.”

Roman flashed a signature dazzling smile. “Thank you, I painted the murals myself.”

“I see.” Logan offered no more comments.

Roman glanced questioningly at Patton, who shrugged. “Well…we may as well get started. I doubt anyone else will come in, weekdays tend to be slow.”

Logan and Patton took their seats and Roman showed them which colors they would need to paint the picture. “We’ll be painting an optical illusion, through some simple shading techniques. It doesn’t really matter which colors you pick, so long as one is dark and one is light. It’s easier to pick two shades of the same color for easier blending.”

He watched, pleased with their color choices of dark blue to pale grey for Logan and bright blue to purple for Patton.

“Wonderful color selections!” Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he thought he saw the ghost of a smile twitch across Logan’s lips.

As they painted, they talked, Roman occasionally interjecting with the next step or to help them fix a mistake.

“How’s your caretaking job, Patton?”

Patton’s face fell slightly. “Oh you know...I love it, my clients are all sweethearts. It’s just…” he sighed, “...hard. They’re all elderly, and it’s hard to get attached to someone so late in life, you know?”

Roman frowned. “I’m sorry, Patton.”

Patton shrugged. “It’s life. I lost a client this week, which is why this is hitting a little hard. I call all my clients my ‘kiddos’ and they love it, but she would always laugh and say ‘Finally, someone who knows my true age.’” Patton smiled wistfully. “I miss her.”

Roman opened his mouth to respond, but was surprised when Logan said something instead, “She sounds lovely, Pat. I hope you get to see her again someday.”

Patton smiled. “I hope so too. Thanks, Lo.”

They continued working in silence for awhile before Roman asked, “So Logan, what do you do?”

Logan perked up. “I’m a writer,” he said proudly.

Roman blinked in surprise. “Really? I love to write as well, when I’m not leading classes.”

“What do you write? Fiction?” Roman heard the slight disdain in Logan’s voice, but didn’t let that get to him.

“Sometimes, yes,” he answered.

“Hmph...I’ve never considered that real writing.”

Roman didn’t bother to hide the indignance in his voice. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Logan shrugged. “I meant no offense, I simply don’t think that slapping any random items onto a page with no regard to reality is real writing.”

Roman blinked and relaxed. “I see. So you’ve only been exposed to bad fiction writing.” By now, they had finished painting. “Well, Logan, I don’t believe you have all the evidence you require for making such a hypothesis.”

“What do you propose?” Logan asked skeptically.

“Let me take you to lunch. Patton, you’re welcome to stay as well, of course, but Logan, I would like to show you what fiction writing really is.”

Patton shook his head, stating he needed to get back to work, and Logan piqued an eyebrow in interest. “Alright, Roman, I’ll humor you. But I should warn you, it is usually difficult to change my mind about anything.”

Patton chuckled. “He’s right. He’s immensely stubborn. Kind of like you, Roman. This might be an interesting friendship you two end up with, but it could also go in the other direction so please don’t kill each other. Have fun!” Patton waved on his way out.

Logan looked at Roman once Patton had gone. “Where did you have in mind for lunch?”

Roman’s eyes sparkled, and Logan had to will himself not to stare at them. “Before we go to lunch, I have something to show you.”

He led Logan to the small back room that doubled as his office. “What’s your writing process like Logan?”

“I mostly write biographies, so it’s spent analyzing life events and maintaining accuracy for the most part. It consists of a lot of interviews and categorizing information.”

Roman nodded, making his way to a bookshelf. “These are my journals.” He carefully chose one, pulling it free from its spot. Handing it to Logan, he asked, “What do you see?”

Logan opened it. “Characters?”

Roman nodded once more. “Look closer.”

Logan read through the pages before him, taking in the sketches, the character descriptions, their background stories, notes on how those tied into the main stories, connections to other characters. “These are quite comprehensive, Roman.”

“They have to be. I’m not just making a stick figure out of words here, Logan. For all of these characters and for all of my worlds and settings that I will show you, I draw from the real world. I can’t just say a character has had a rough childhood, I have to show with words how that has strengthened her. Or broken her. I have to describe how that impacts her relationships with other people, her relationship with her setting, her significance to the plot. I draw from psychological knowledge, from physiological knowledge, from environmental knowledge and physics knowledge to make these interactions realistic.” Logan was looking at him with renewed interest, fascinated by his words. “When I create a world. I have to carefully construct the rules that apply. Why does only one kind of magic exist? What are its limitations? What is the geography of my world, the physics, the chemistry, the politics? I pull of these from what we already know of our world. Fiction writers live on a knife’s edge between what exists in the real world, and what _could_ exist, somehow, someway, had the right circumstances occurred. I use the dust from our world and sweep into an image that lies just on the other side of the mirror, one that’s only different in the arrangement in which the rules are formed. Not all of my writing might be fully ‘realistic’, Logan, but I assure you, none of it is random or haphazard. None at all.”

Logan blinked slowly, soaking up Roman’s speech. “It appears I was mistaken…” he grew shy, “Would...would you be willing to teach me more?”

Roman smiled brightly. “It would be my absolute pleasure.”

Logan smiled in return, adding, “Also, have you ever considered writing poetry?”

Roman laughed, “I’ll show you my poetry some other time. For now, let’s go eat, shall we?”

Logan nodded in agreement, fascinated with the worlds and and processes that Roman had opened his eyes to in mere minutes. He would later learn from Patton that Roman rarely showed his journals to anyone, and he couldn’t help but smile internally at the trust the artist had placed in him.

After that, Logan attended many of Roman’s classes. And maybe some private writing sessions too...


End file.
